Liverpool Rumours And General Discussion 2007/2008

el rabitos

silly season starting early this year

funny how the various media outlets have everything from rafa snapping back at the owners yesterday to thing being back to normal to rumours of them having lined up mourinho to replace him.

anyone who actually watched the post match interview would see a happy benitez giving a reasonable response and elaborating on his 1 sentence answer during the week. if he'd just said that at the press conferance the other day i doubt we'd be getting the media circus threatment right now.

PHB

Ya those stats are good and with Liverpool really not playing particularly well according to most pundits its nice reading. However, they need to beat Man U next month or it will all be for nothing. All this without Agger as well.

That game really isn't that important. Liverpool won't lose the league not beating United. They'll lose the league in the 2 games before that or the 2 games after that. It's not decided on who wins between the big 4.

Thanx 4 The Fish

Not important in terms of the league but if you are saying that liverpool could lose in the games before and after it then surely we would say that united are in the same boat.

I believe that that game is quite important confidence wise and whichever team win will sertainly have a nice boost going on into christmas.

lordgoat

It'll come down to march and april, and i think if all 4 teams are close to each other i think liverpools lack of experience of having to win league matches to stay in touch may play a factor. The other 3 all have the experience of knowing that the team must win or they go three points further down. Winning league games is alot harder as the season goes on and the pressure builds.

Tusky

I usually wouldn't pay any attention to this but its by Bascombe... doesn't Mourinho have something in his contract saying he cant manage another premiership team ?

Mourinho tops Kop list

Exclusive by Chris Bascombe

Rafa Benitez will be axedRAFA BENITEZ will be sacked following his latest tirade against Liverpool owner Tom Hicks.

And former Kop hate-figure Jose Mourinho is the shock front runner to replace him.

Liverpool's American owners were already preparing to ditch the Spanish boss (left) after tiring of the constant behind-the-scenes bickering but this week's developments have sealed his fate.

It's now a matter of when not if the Spanish boss leaves Anfield and that's expected to be sooner rather than later.

Despite his epic Anfield bust-ups while at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho tops a wanted list already being assembled by the owners.

An approach will be made once Benitez's departure is confirmed.

The Portuguese boss may have his enemies on Merseyside, but he's recognised as one of the best and most sought after coaches in Europe.

Benitez showed no sign of ducking a fight with his hierarchy following yesterday's 3-0 win over Newcastle, despite knowing his job was on the line.

"It's clear Mr Hicks wants the best for the club. So do I," he said.

"We have been here for a long time and we know what the passion of football means and what the transfer market in Europe means.

"It's not a draft system. We have free players available now. I'm not talking about players that cost money.

"We need to talk to the agents now, if not we will lose targets. In the summer, the players will be more expensive. I have not been talking about spending but doing the opposite. We have brought money back. We brought in £26m this year and you can see the value of the squad.

"We had a meeting on the day of the Arsenal game which was really positive. After this, something changed."

They told me to be focused on coaching and training because Rick Parry will be looking after signing players."

Swing

Benitez won't walk away, adding: "I have passion for this club. The fans who were with me in Istanbul know what it means to me."

With no resignation on the horizon, Hicks (left) and Gillett are now ready to swing their axe regardless of Liverpool's league placing or Champions League progress.

whatawaster

skybet have suspended betting on him being sacked. I don't know anything about betting, but am I right to be worried?

Ps: i'd never believe a word bascombe rights.

el rabitos

Guillem Balague alluded to mourinho being in contact with an english club in his latest piece on the sky sports website...

'm convinced that while Joan Laporta is still the chairman - and he's still got two years left - then Mourinho will not become Barcelona coach. If Frank Rijkaard leaves at the end of the season, and there is a very high possibility that they will let him go, then it will probably be Marco Van Basten who will replace him. I have heard Jose Mourinho is negotiating already with an English club for next season.

bascombe and balague are usually have their ears close to the ground when it comes to things at pool so maybe theres something in it, believe it when i see it though.

there would be uproar if rafa is just sacked. i think he's still in the middle of his project and it hasnt stagnated ala houlliers last 12 - 18 months.

i think the club is still progressing and this year is a big one for benitez, but i'd be fairly pissed if he was sacked tbh.

Tusky

whatawaster wrote: »

skybet have suspended betting on him being sacked. I don't know anything about betting, but am I right to be worried?

Ps: i'd never believe a word bascombe rights.

Another article I found posted on a different site. Its old but interesting none the less. It would truly be a sad day if Rafa was sacked. The backlash from the fans would be immense.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2004/04/23/sfnliv23.xml&sSheet=/sport/2004/04/23/ixfooty.html

el rabitos wrote: »

Guillem Balague alluded to mourinho being in contact with an english club in his latest piece on the sky sports website...



bascombe and balague are usually have their ears close to the ground when it comes to things at pool so maybe theres something in it, believe it when i see it though.

there would be uproar if rafa is just sacked. i think he's still in the middle of his project and it hasnt stagnated ala houlliers last 12 - 18 months.

i think the club is still progressing and this year is a big one for benitez, but i'd be fairly pissed if he was sacked tbh.

Say whatever you want about Bascombe but I trust nobody in the press more so than Balague, he has been right so many times before including about the Torres Garcia transfer weeks before it happened. Anything other than taking over at Arsenal, Liverpool or Utd would be a massive step down for Mourinho and I cant see Wenger or Ferguson going anywhere. Spurs & Newcastle have just appointed new managers. Mark Hughs isnt going anywhere...what club could it be other than Liverpool ?

I would be amazed if it happened. While most Liverpool fans respect Mourinho, alot of them hate him with a passion as well. Rafa is hugely popular and it it really is HIS Liverpool team.

Reina
Itandje
Arbeloa
Aurelio
Agger
Alonso
Mascherano
Sissoko
Lucas
Benayoun
Pennant
Babel
Torres
Crouch
Kuyt
Voronin

Thats a massive of first team players and surely there would be a backlash from them as well ? Would cost more to sack him than to just put in behind them.

whatawaster

if he is sacked there will be uproar.
If he's still there on wednesday the crowd will let their feelings known on the matter.

Jesus Wept

I would lose my mind if Mourinho was in charge of us.

:mad::(

Peyton Manning

I think you'll find that the only reason Balague is right so often is because he regurgitates what he reads in Marca every week. However, if Marca print this story, there might be something to it.

Jesus Wept

...marca?

el rabitos

Archimedes wrote: »

I think you'll find that the only reason Balague is right so often is because he regurgitates what he reads in Marca every week. However, if Marca print this story, there might be something to it.

or he just has alot of contacts within the game. its well known that he and benitez are pals.

theres a short list of football pundits on tv that actually know anything about what they are talking about and ballague is one of them


....the other is james richardson. real short list that.

el rabitos

The-Rigger wrote: »

...marca?

spanish newspaper, similar to the british rags, only they get a couple of rumours right out of a hundred or so

copacetic

bloody hell, do i not like this. hicks really has no feel for liverpool if he thinks this is going to fly..

~Rebel~

I've completely stopped trusting Bascombes articles since he left the echo. Pretty much exactly since his switch to the rag-ette everything he's written has been very anti Liverpool and very doom and gloom. Its gone into well on other pool forum's the extent that he seems to be singing a very different tune these days.

I'd imagine once he left the echo he would have lost a lot of his substantial access to all the goings on within LFC.

One thing i know is i'll be singing Rafa's song very loudly on wednesday night!

Chardee MacDennis

if they sack rafa our season is over, if they are already talking to other managers expect to see a spurs situation where his situation becomes untenable.

I will be very unhappy if Rafa was sacked, it makes no sense to do it.

zAbbo

Rafa out, Jose in, all will be forgotten if we start mounting a serious assault on the league.

Will Jose come knowing he can't dictate what players are bought?

~Rebel~

I really really wouldn't like Jose in. It changes the whole ethos of the club to have someone like that as the public face of LFC.

When we were linked with him before after he won the champs league i was praying we wouldn't get him and thanking my lucky stars we got Rafa, and im of the same opinion now.

Chardee MacDennis

if Hicks can't take Rafa's poublic 'outbursts' which i don't really think they were that much of an outburst, what will he make of jose?

machiavellianme

I'm not sure what to make of the rumours, but if they're true, I'd rather someone like Mourinho who knows what it takes to win the PL and buy relatively top class players than another Houlier type.
I mightnt be Rafa's biggest fan, but I think he should at least get till the end of the season. I do see the Owners point though. He should be able to make do with the players he has. I feel he wasted a lot of time and money on average players (Bellamy, Gonzalez and half his young midfielders) when he should have bought one or two key players. Surely its time he bloods a few reserves and pushes on with who he has. We have a pretty good squad and if he ever wants rotation to succeed, he needs to stick with it rather than bringing in new players who wont gel till its too late.

Tusky

machiavellianme wrote: »

I'm not sure what to make of the rumours, but if they're true, I'd rather someone like Mourinho who knows what it takes to win the PL and buy relatively top class players than another Houlier type.
I mightnt be Rafa's biggest fan, but I think he should at least get till the end of the season. I do see the Owners point though. He should be able to make do with the players he has. I feel he wasted a lot of time and money on average players (Bellamy, Gonzalez and half his young midfielders) when he should have bought one or two key players. Surely its time he bloods a few reserves and pushes on with who he has. We have a pretty good squad and if he ever wants rotation to succeed, he needs to stick with it rather than bringing in new players who wont gel till its too late.

Gonzalez came with alot of potential. He had a great season in La Liga the year before and played well for Chile any time I saw him. He just never adjusted to the premiership. He only cost about 4 million and Im pretty sure we got most of it back.

Bellamy cost 6 million, we made money when we sold him. We were struggling for cash at the time and you wouldn't find a better player for 6 million than Bellamy. He was shipped off pretty quickly and replaced with Torres.

Just looking at the league table, if Arsenal & Liverpool both win their games in hand it will look like this.

1 Arsenal 36
2 Liverpool 30
3 Man. Utd 30
4 Man City 29
5 Chelsea 28

opr

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

OK this was all a bit of fun until i started reading the last few pages in this thread. I really hope on wednesday night these two americans idiots get well and truely told how Liverpool fans feel about Rafa.

Opr

mayordenis

we made money on both gonzalez and bellamy.

machiavellianme

mayordenis wrote: »

we made money on both gonzalez and bellamy.

And I'm sure yeovil town make money on some of the players they sell on too, but they didnt put any silverware in the trophy cabinet. We need to stop wasting money on average players to make a few quid on them when we sell them on. I used them as an example of the type of player Rafa seeks out. Torres is the only exception to this rule, in that he's a truely world class type of player. Pennant, Arbeloa, Voronin, Kuyt etc etc dont have the same quality and while they may be good, the mightnt necessarily even get a place on the bench with our competitors.

Brethitmanhart

I think people really state things that happened without thinking or taking into account the circumstances in which somethings occurred.
As someone has already said we needed a striker on limited funds, Bellamy was a good option for the price as we would deinately make our money back on him anyway and that was great business by Rafa.

Mark Gonzales had alot of potential and was very unlucky, I wish Rafa kept him another year but I feel the real reason Gonzales wasn't given another year is that we can't afford to have two injury prone players in the same position (Kewell and Gonzales)

Rafa has been very shrewd in his dealings, he hasn't made too much mistakes either and it's only crap talk saying that Liverpool are not doing well at the moment, we are doing well...we are unbeaten, only Arsenal are doing better and remember that they will have to deal with the African Nations in January aswell as that we have dearly missed Daniel Agger, Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres.

Rafa is King, Best manager in the world in my opinion and the Americans would want to have a reality check if they are even contemplating giving Rafa the axe. If they do they will be villains in Liverpool.


Talking about January...what is needed?
Mascherano, first and foremost is vital.
Then we need a centre back with maybe the versatility to fill in at one of the side back positions.

That's the first 2 players.
The last thing is that our striker balance is not correct. We have 2 goalscorers and 2 workers. I like them all...but Rafa is not playing Crouch so really we have 1 goalscorer and 2 workers pre dominantly playing...this needs to change as if the goalscorer is off form we have no one else to rely on. I think if we are to sell Crouch we should either push Babel up front and buy a creative midfielder or just buy a goalscorer.

Your views?

machiavellianme

Definately agree on the goalscorer needed. Not sure I'd sell Crouch. Kuyt should go first imo, but if Voronin doesnt improve by May, he should be given the door. We need a winger but we should be able to make do without one till the summer. I think Hobbs should be given a chance at the back but we could use some cover as Sami needs to be set to pasture.

Brethitmanhart

Arbeloa has been a quality signing in my opinion.
Kuyt is having a bad patch but still is a very very handy player to have and should be kept.
Voronin was bought last January before The americans came in so Rafa had to work with no funds and brought him in on a free.
Now that this situation has eased up Rafa will not need both Kuyt and Voronin and one should be sold on, I would choose Voronin.....but still you cannot blame Rafa for Voronin because Rafa in different circumstances at that time.
I wouldn't sell Crouch if it was me in charge but the matter of fact is that Rafa is not utilising Crouch to full effect and we cannot afford to keep him as one of our goalscoring strikers if he is not going to play.

zing

machiavellianme wrote: »

Pennant, Arbeloa, Voronin, Kuyt etc etc dont have the same quality and while they may be good, the mightnt necessarily even get a place on the bench with our competitors.

But the likes of Alonso, Agger, Mascherano, Carson, Reina & Lucas (maybe not for another year) would. Heck - some of our competitors would probably have taken the chance with Nando too. He's had to spread the funds quite a bit and some of the players haven't worked out but he has bought some very good players and has clearly planned for a long stay if you look at the youth players he's bought.

Would I like Mourinho - I'm just not sure. He's clearly a brilliant manager and motivator (something I feel could be a week spot with Rafa) but he's hardly the type to roll over and be a good little doggy whenever George & Tom tell him to. I wouldn't like to change manager during the season - Rafa should at least get until the summer imo - but if we do it has to be in the next week or so to allow the new manager a chance to buy & sell in Jan .. if he's allowed to.

Tusky

machiavellianme wrote: »

And I'm sure yeovil town make money on some of the players they sell on too, but they didnt put any silverware in the trophy cabinet. We need to stop wasting money on average players to make a few quid on them when we sell them on. I used them as an example of the type of player Rafa seeks out. Torres is the only exception to this rule, in that he's a truely world class type of player. Pennant, Arbeloa, Voronin, Kuyt etc etc dont have the same quality and while they may be good, the mightnt necessarily even get a place on the bench with our competitors.

Rafa has been here three seasons and the squad is almost unrecognizable to the one he inherited. For a team with such high aspirations he has been working on limited enough funds and hasn't had the luxury of being able to splash a lot of cash on individual positions as there were so many areas that needed improvement.

He has definitely brought lots of quality into the squad. Reina(bargain), Agger(bargain), Mascherano, Alonso(bargain), Lucas, Torres & Babel are all top quality. Arbeloa, Aurelio, Sissoko, Voronin were all bargains as well.

When players like Crouch, Hyypia, Aurelio, Voronin, Benayoun, Babel, Sissoko, Pennant etc are battling for a place on the bench, it shows how far we have come in the last few years.

I think people forget that he has only been here since 2004. Imagine what he can do if he is given another three years. I think it will be really interesting to see his transfer activity over the next few years (if he stays) as he doesnt need to bring in 4,5 or 6 players each summer as has been the case. He can now handpick world class players for individual positions and splash the cash a bit.

One last point - When rafa has made errors in the transfer market or when players havent worked out they have been shipped out quickly and often at a profit. Gonzalez, Bellamy etc He has never made expensive mistakes i.e Shevshenko.

Mental Mickey

bbop wrote: »

big story today in the News of the World (yes i know hardly the most relliable) that Rafa's sacking is imminent and that Mourinho is lined up to take over. I think this is very possible, maybe not in the next few weeks but definatly in the summer

When I mentioned yesterday about rumours of unrest between Rafa & Hicks/Gillett, I was laughed of this board. It's amazing how quickly football fans change their minds......

:rolleyes:

I don't want to see Rafa sacked either, but if he continually has to be told to shut up by the Americans, things don't bode well...........

Vokes

mayordenis wrote: »

we made money on both gonzalez and bellamy.

But if you take into account things like wages & signing on fees & bonuses paid to the pair of them, and compare that to what we won last season, we didn't make a true profit really. However, Rafa did do well getting the transfer fees recouped.

Tusky

Wouldn't pay too much attention to this as it seems like somebody just stirring **** but I thought I'd post it anyway.

http://www.lfconline.com/news/loadnews.asp?cid=TMNW&id=364504

Mental Mickey

Tusky wrote: »

Wouldn't pay too much attention to this as it seems like somebody just stirring **** but I thought I'd post it anyway.

http://www.lfconline.com/news/loadnews.asp?cid=TMNW&id=364504

IF that is true - shame on Rafa for chucking his toys out of the pram so publicly.

:mad:

Jesus Wept

Mental Mickey wrote: »

When I mentioned yesterday about rumours of unrest between Rafa & Hicks/Gillett, I was laughed of this board. It's amazing how quickly football fans change their minds......

Yes that's it Mickey, you broke the story yesterday to us, none of us had heard a thing about the press conference or goings on prior to you mentioning it. :rolleyes:

Tusky wrote: »

Wouldn't pay too much attention to this as it seems like somebody just stirring **** but I thought I'd post it anyway.

http://www.lfconline.com/news/loadnews.asp?cid=TMNW&id=364504

Could of been mental mickey. He seems to have all the sources. :rolleyes::p

Mental Mickey

The-Rigger wrote: »

Yes that's it Mickey, you broke the story yesterday to us, none of us had heard a thing about the press conference or goings on prior to you mentioning it. :rolleyes:



Could of been mental mickey. He seems to have all the sources. :rolleyes::p

Grow up. :rolleyes:

Tusky

The-Rigger wrote: »

Could of been mental mickey. He seems to have all the sources. :rolleyes::p

Apparently hes part of some kind of top secret group of well informed people called 'ceefax'.

Mental Mickey

Tusky wrote: »

Apparently hes part of some kind of top secret group of well informed people called 'ceefax'.

Ding-ding. Round Two.

~Rebel~

Ugh, stuff like that doesn't even merit being discussed. it has as much credence as me saying I saw Ronaldinho looking at Houses in L4. As they point out themselves there is No confirmation on anything. With the media looking at events at Anfield in a big way at the moment it would have probably been picked up on by something a little more credible.

Mental Mickey, you seem very knee jerk or something, just chill out, 99% of news/reports/opinion around are wrong, its simply the nature of the Internet where any moron with a keyboard can try to cause a bit of a stir. Your personal opinions on Rafa and Gerrard are all well and good, just don't judge anyone without a credible source got your greviences cause otherwise its just a bit unfair, and you'll probably get jumped on here.

Dr. Nick

But the NOTW got the story from Chris Bascombe did they not? The source is credible.

Mental Mickey

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Ugh, stuff like that doesn't even merit being discussed. it has as much credence as me saying I saw Ronaldinho looking at Houses in L4. As they point out themselves there is No confirmation on anything. With the media looking at events at Anfield in a big way at the moment it would have probably been picked up on by something a little more credible.

Mental Mickey, you seem very knee jerk or something, just chill out, 99% of news/reports/opinion around are wrong, its simply the nature of the Internet where any moron with a keyboard can try to cause a bit of a stir. Your personal opinions on Rafa and Gerrard are all well and good, just don't judge anyone without a credible source got your greviences cause otherwise its just a bit unfair, and you'll probably get jumped on here.

Well, I was just pointing out that this kind of thing is out there. Whether or not it is bulls**t remains to be seen.........

~Rebel~

Dr. Nick wrote: »

But the NOTW got the story from Chris Bascombe did they not? The source is credible.

Im talking about this one;
http://www.lfconline.com/news/loadnews.asp?cid=TMNW&id=364504

Rumour Mill: Benitez has gone?
By Adam Bryant

Sunday 25th November 2007
We have heard (from dubious sources) that Rafael Benitez has walked out of Anfield.
The Liverpool boss has been in conflict with club owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks regarding funds for signings during the January transfer window.

Article continues below


It was believed that the matter would be resolved when the parties met to discuss the future plans in December.

But, if the rumours are to be believed, it looks like Benitez has lost patience with the chairmen and decided to walk.

We stress that at the moment there is no confirmation of these events, but expect developments on Monday.

By the way Bascombe since he's left the echo has very much turned around in his style of reporting and become very anti Liverpool and doom and gloom. Being roundly criticised by the Liverpool public since he switched. I also doubt he has anywhere near/if any of the same access he used to have to LFC.

Stky10

~Rebel~ wrote: »

By the way Bascombe since he's left the echo has very much turned around in his style of reporting and become very anti Liverpool and doom and gloom. Being roundly criticised by the Liverpool public since he switched. I also doubt he has anywhere near/if any of the same access he used to have to LFC.

Even at the end of last season before he moved, he was quite downcast about the transfer window and who'd be brought in etc. He must have trod on somebodies toes, and got put back in his box, and thats what caused him to move.

Oh for the days of Peter Robinson et al when all the dirty laundry was kept private.

Mental Mickey

Stky10 wrote: »

Even at the end of last season before he moved, he was quite downcast about the transfer window and who'd be brought in etc. He must have trod on somebodies toes, and got put back in his box, and thats what caused him to move.

Oh for the days of Peter Robinson et al when all the dirty laundry was kept private.

LOL. If Rafa is p****d off with Hicks/Gillett, he should not have aired his views publicly. He should've done it behind closed doors.

mike65

http://www.lfconline.com/news/loadnews.asp?cid=TMNW&id=364504

We have heard (from dubious sources) that Rafael Benitez has walked out of Anfield.
The Liverpool boss has been in conflict with club owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks regarding funds for signings during the January transfer window.

It was believed that the matter would be resolved when the parties met to discuss the future plans in December.

But, if the rumours are to be believed, it looks like Benitez has lost patience with the chairmen and decided to walk.

We stress that at the moment there is no confirmation of these events, but expect developments on Monday.

Mike.

Mental Mickey

mike65 wrote: »

http://www.lfconline.com/news/loadnews.asp?cid=TMNW&id=364504



Mike.

Yeah, I read that earlier. I wonder how credible it is?

HashSlinging

Veronin scored twice when he was away on international duty, why would we need to offload him, I really think all of the strikers have an important role to play and they bring different qualities to the game.

On a different subject I have a conspiracy theory, which is that Pako was sent to Real on a reci to smooth things over for rafa when he decides to leave liverpool, anyone think Benitez is going to leave at christmas, I think its going to happen, he left Valencia for the same reasons as what is happening now, he wanted to spend money but the owners wouldnt allow it.

Nunu

I have to say it's poor form using as they put it 'dubious sources', so as to try steal a march on others just in case it's true.

I'm a Utd fan and have never been on that site before...how reliable would their info usually be?

~Rebel~

Mental Mickey wrote: »

[/B]

LOL. If Rafa is p****d off with Hicks/Gillett, he should not have aired his views publicly. He should've done it behind closed doors.

To be fair, he didn't. he was just pissed of in the press conference. it was Hicks who then said that statement Rafa kept repeating was from their private conversation the previous day. It was also Hicks and Gilette who released the public statement. The only time Rafa spoke about the 2 americans was after the match yesterday, when he said nothing bad at all and merely answered a direct question that had come about from Their public statments.

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Yeah, I read that earlier. I wonder how credible it is?

Obviously not at all from them themselves saying "DUBIOUS SOURCES".

Nunu, that site wouldn't be among one of the ones you could take seriously, especially considering its in their 'Rumours' section.

Lads seriously relax with all this doom and gloom knee jerk reactions, there is Nothing in any way solid to suggest Rafa will be gone at any stage, let alone in a months time!

Tusky

HashSlinging wrote: »

Veronin scored twice when he was away on international duty, why would we need to offload him, I really think all of the strikers have an important role to play and they bring different qualities to the game.

On a different subject I have a conspiracy theory, which is that Pako was sent to Real on a reci to smooth things over for rafa when he decides to leave liverpool, anyone think Benitez is going to leave at christmas, I think its going to happen, he left Valencia for the same reasons as what is happening now, he wanted to spend money but the owners wouldnt allow it.

I'm not knocking your opinion but just curious, what are the different qualities that Kuyt & Voroning bring. They obvious have slight differences but from what I have seen, they play exactly the same role and are very similar players.